Medically reviewed by Minimalist Health Specialist - Written by Akruti Khandkar (Journalist) on 21st Dec 2020
Benefits of using Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid together
The skincare industry is booming and has reached a whole other level. Layering is one of the highly suggested methods by dermatologists, and everyone is going crazy about it. But how much trendy and propitious layering might be, it is equally confusing. Will they counteract one another? Will you wind up ruining your skin? Most of the time, when products don’t irritate your skin, you can continue layering endlessly. However, is that your primary purpose of using multiple skincare ingredients?
No, right? You spend all that money to get certain benefits. To reach your ultimate skincare goal, you need to understand what ingredient works well with other ingredients.
Niacinamide and Hyaluronic acid, individually, are a bomb product. They work wonders on your skin and provide multiple benefits. But do they work well together? Let’s find out.
Is layering hyaluronic acid and niacinamide possible? Absolutely! For skincare, since hyaluronic acid and niacinamide are water-based, you could pair these ingredients to give a new spin to your routine. This pairing is most effective for those with dry and parched skin. Also, individuals with skin that's very oily could find this useful as well.
What is Niacinamide?
It is a form of Vit B3 that works like a superhero ingredient in getting rid of overabundant oil generation. Vitamin B3 comes from food items like fish, milk, eggs, meat, green vegetables, and grains. Moreover, it is easily absorbed through the skin and is highly recommended to be used topically.
It further helps in hyperpigmentation and reducing pores and resembles a hero ingredient in skincare items. Not just it assists with getting overabundance oil creation leveled out. However, it additionally helps with hyperpigmentation and limiting pores. According to a 2017 study, it hinders sebum production functioning, which could lead to acne breakouts.
How does niacinamide benefit your skin?
Niacinamide is featured in many skincare products lately. This is because niacinamide works on all kinds of problems. Many individuals might not have heard about niacinamide because it does not target one problem specifically. But, it's better to pick one product that gives you overall benefits than spending thousands of bucks on multiple products.
- Niacinamide reduces inflammation, which further leads to acne, eczema, and other inflammatory skin conditions.
- It additionally treats hyperpigmentation due to increased collagen production.
- It also benefits your skin in the growth of the ceramide (lipid) barrier that retains moisture.
- Niacinamide helps in building keratin (a protein that keeps your skin healthy and soft.
- It also assists in decreasing pores for the long haul.
- It treats wrinkles and fine lines by keeping your skin safe from sun damage,
How does niacinamide help diminishing pores?
Although there isn’t any supporting research that recognizes how vitamin B helps in pore tightening, it appears that niacinamide has a controlling capacity on the pore lining.
Niacinamide works on the epidermis, which contains ceramides, natural oils, proteins that moisturizes the skin. This influence helps keep away the dead skin cells that could lead to clogged pores and bumpy and rough skin.
When you use niacinamide topically, it benefits your aging skin by smoothing out wrinkles, improving skin texture, and pumps up the differentiation of keratinocytes.
According to Dr. Sam Bunting,
niacinamide has an excellent balancing effect on the pores, helping in the appearance of enlarged pores. She further adds that niacinamide also helps in pore clarity, pigmentation and has anti-aging benefits. UV rays can harm your skin in many ways, but the most prominent one is dull skin and enlarged pores, so a higher substance of niacinamide can help fix pores by supporting the skin's strong components.
Note
Do not/never forget to do a patch test before using niacinamide or any active ingredient on your skin. Even though niacinamide is considered to be safe for every skin type, delicate skin and inflamed skin can encounter indications like irritation, burning, or redness.
Start with a lower level of niacinamide first, or you can weaken the item by blending it in with your cream. After your skin becomes accustomed to it, gradually increase the amount, as per your skin's tolerance.
What is Hyaluronic Acid?
Hyaluronic acid is a naturally produced humectant, which means they draw moisture from their environmental factors. Humectants are frequently found in water-based moisturizers, which makes them truly valuable for dry and dehydrated skin.
When your skin is hydrated, it will automatically fade away the wrinkles and fine lines. Hyaluronic acid works similarly in skincare ingredients. Humectant draws moisture from the environment and hydrates the skin.
Important things to know about HA?
Hyaluronic acid, which is generally found in our skin and is likewise the star ingredient in injectable fillers, is cherished for its capacity to immediately plump skin, fill fine lines and hold up to multiple times its actual weight in water. HA makes your skin hydrated and smooth.
One trait that tops the benefit list is that Hyaluronic acid can profit all skin types. It's great for dry and aged skin because of its hydrating and hostile to aging properties, yet it can likewise support oily textured skin.
Oily and combination skin also needs hydration, and a light-weight ingredient like HA feels weightless but still provides essential moisture.
Hyaluronic acid also benefits sensitive skin by calming the skin from irritants with its antioxidant properties.
Did You Know?
One gram of hyaluronic acid can carry six liters of water in your skin.
The layering of Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid
When layered together, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid are a super skincare mix as they complement each other's hydrating properties.
Did you know stratum corneum, the other most layer of your epidermis, controls the skin’s hydration? This outermost layer is also the skin barrier, consisting of skin cells glued together with a mixture of lipids.
These lipids are made of a mix of cholesterol, ceramides, and fatty acid. Lipids create a barrier that holds the water in the skin and prohibits the irritants from entering.
Hyaluronic acid, urea, amino acids, lactic acids, and sugar are the natural moisturizing factors (NRF), and this NRF controls the hydration. When the water inside your skin cells is even, it helps improve your skin's versatility, keeping it looking strong and healthy.
This is the place where pairing niacinamide and hyaluronic acid comes in. Niacinamide and hyaluronic acid are both water-based treatments, and they can be utilized together.
Niacinamides' hydrating effect on skin expands the degree of cholesterol, fatty acids, and ceramides in your stratum corneum. In contrast, hyaluronic acid directs the water that comes all through your skin cells.
Pairing niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together support your skin’s hydration from both angles.
Also, niacinamide helps boost collagen creation while hyaluronic acid improves flexibility, so joining the two can help improve the presence of wrinkles and fine lines.
Guide to layering Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid:
While layering the two together, start by applying hyaluronic acid on your cleansed face to recharge your skin with a lot of hydration first, then later use niacinamide.
With this method, you can ensure plenty of hydration in the first step. When you apply niacinamide, it manages the sebum production and minimizes the pores. Finally, lock these actives with a moisturizer.
These two ingredients are appropriate for any skin type. There is slightly any chance that your skin will be aggravated when utilizing them together. However, if you experience any burn or irritation on the skin, stop one of the actives and discover which one set off your skin. They work magic even when used alone.
Can utilize them independently as well. Use/layer hyaluronic acid in your morning skincare routine to keep your skin hydrated the entire day and niacinamide at night to fix indications of aging, for example, wrinkles, fine lines, dark spots, and enlarged pores.
If your skin is dry/dehydrated, you can apply niacinamide on the nose, brows, jawline, and HA other parts of your face to ensure overall hydration.
Note
Follow your love for sunscreen religiously. Protect your skin with SPF 30+, broad-spectrum, waterproof sunscreen as the last step of your morning skincare routine.
Salicylic acid, a beta-hydroxy acid, and niacinamide, a water-soluble form of vitamin B3, function admirably when consolidated together. Both fight against gruesome acne and aging and offer some degree of UV insurance.
As salicylic acid is oil-soluble, it effectively infiltrates pores to unclog them by relaxing and segregating the skin cells and waste that develop inside the hair follicle.
This likewise implies that salicylic acid can get to sebaceous organs and lessen sebum creation. Niacinamide slows down the sebum creation by diminishing the fatty acids and glycerol, which reduces pore measure and improves the skin surface.
In short, salicylic acid and niacinamide offer similar benefits but work differently. This means that joining the two can have an extra positive impact, especially in pore minimizing.
Did You Know?
Spate's report, a consumer data organization that examines patterns in the food and beauty enterprises, shows that niacinamide serums have spiked to the third position after vitamin C since the end of July.
Is using niacinamide and hyaluronic safe?
Yes. But the concentration matters, especially in Hyaluronic acid 1-2% of the formula is effective. There is no need to use a product that has a higher concentration of HA. Also, remember to read the label of the products. If, in any case, your skincare regime consists of hyaluronic acid in an eye cream, cleanser, mask, and lotion with over-the-top HA serum can trouble your skin.
As far as topical niacinamide goes, it's safe and is calming on the skin. If you are experiencing irritation by niacinamide, make sure you are using a lower concentration of the active.
Overview
Now that you have learned everything about the two effective ingredients, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, the next step is to try.
Remember if you're a beginner:
- Use a small amount of product (niacinamide or HA) on your neck
- Wait for at least 24 hours
- If you experience any irritation/redness on the area, discontinue the use
- If you don’t, then you can use it on your face.
You won’t get any results in a day. Patience is required for the actives to do their job. Consistency is the key to secure your skin from hyperpigmentation, inflammation, and smoothen your skin texture.
